


Surprises

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Foxtrot [30]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, The Dollhouse - Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 14:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6242416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: Any, Any, Making a big announcement. Set post-series. Topher Brink turns himself into the SGC. Daniel Jackson learns that there are still things on earth that can surprise him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprises

Daniel Jackson tried not to be ungracious when someone saved the world, but Atlantis landing off the coast of California meant that three of his social scientists were being repurposed for some reason he couldn't quite understand. All he knew was that John Sheppard wanted them, and since he'd almost blown himself up to save Earth, he got them. Daniel knew he'd made some unreasonable demands in his struggle to save the planet, so he was willing to be patient and shuffle his staff. There was something else going on, something that had Landry and Jack and a bunch of other brass locked in a conference room shouting over the phone at other people from Washington. Need to know basis. Daniel couldn't imagine what was so top secret that he and Sam didn't get to know about it, but contrary to popular belief, sometimes he listened to orders, put his head down, and did what was asked.  
  
Didn't mean he wouldn't passive-aggressively protest the restructuring of his department, so he had his transfer meeting in his favorite diner down the street from the second apartment he had (after he died the first time). Caroline Farrell was a brilliant linguist who could see patterns that Daniel sometimes didn't see, but she was younger and had fewer languages under her belt, so sometimes she needed some help along with the more obscure, ancient dialects, but she was very proficient at Ancient, so it made sense to send her along to Atlantis. Priya Tsetsang was the first xeno-anthropologist who had received her education almost fully at the SGC, and Daniel was loathe to let her go, but her remote studies on the Wraith had made waves somewhere high up in Washington, so she was also being sent to the Atlantis project. Why Sheppard would want Risa Tancharoen, whose primary skills were negotiation and arbitration, for the Atlantis expedition was a mystery, but Jack said _jump_ , and Daniel said, _Fine, this once, for you._

  
They were sitting in Daniel's favorite booth, their datapads on the table between them while they sipped after-meal coffee and mulled over who should take over which cases.  
  
"I think Dr. Balinsky should be able to take this file," Caroline said, tapping her screen.  
  
Daniel scanned the specs of the file she'd pushed over to his data pad. "I wouldn't trust Dixon not to blow that building up out of sheer paranoia. How about giving it to - I was about to say Priya, but never mind."  
  
Priya ducked her head and blushed; she was terrible at taking compliments.  
  
"If someone else in the department is as good as you are with a camera, it's news to me," Daniel muttered.  
  
Risa said, "You know who was good with a camera? Major Lorne. I saw some of his stuff in the old files."  
  
Daniel hummed. "Basically you're telling me to pick a team with a good photographer, regardless of whether said photographer is a scientist."  
  
"Yes." Caroline grinned. "We all adore McKay, but his photographs give me vertigo, as does his camera work."  
  
"And that's why you don't send a scientist to do a social scientist's work," Daniel said. All three women grinned at him. He was going to miss them. He liked working with them. Caroline's earnestness reminded him of Sarah.  
  
He pushed that thought aside.  
  
Priya pushed another file onto Daniel's data pad. "I could probably finish this remotely myself. It doesn't require another trip out to the field. I could work on it from - my other location. It's not extremely high priority, but I did the original field work, and while I did my best to make my notes thorough, I think someone who only looked at the photos would lose a lot of the context."  
  
He started to nod, and then a man cleared his throat.  
  
Daniel tensed, wished he was carrying a sidearm. He palmed one of the steak knives the waitress hadn't taken away, and then he turned.  
  
A young man was standing up in the middle of the diner. He was short, slight, with dark sandy hair, sharp features.  
  
"I have an announcement to make."

Daniel eased his other hand toward his datapad so he could send an emergency alert to the SGC if necessary. Priya, Caroline, and Risa were all frozen, expressions unreadable. While Hammond had early on instituted training requirements for all civilian personnel who qualified for gate travel, few scientists ended up in the combative situations Daniel had. He was the one who would be most rational in battle. He had to protect them.  
  
"My name is Topher Brink, and I was a programmer with the Dollhouse. I'm turning myself in." The young man held his hands out, wrists together like he was already handcuffed. "Someone should arrest me."  
  
Daniel blinked. Okay. The guy was crazy. He didn't appear armed, but who knew what he had in his hoodie. Daniel could handle a negotiation. He'd dealt with crazy people before.  
  
And then Risa said, "Hey, Topher, no need for the dramatics."  
  
Right. She was a professional negotiator; her extensive training might have trumped Daniel's experience. Daniel tensed, ready to spring and tackle the young man in case Risa's gentle tone didn't work. Daniel hadn't expected recognition to cross the man's face.  
  
"Kilo," he said.  
  
"Risa, actually."  
  
Topher blinked. "You used your real name? Of course you used your real names. We'd never have thought to look for those." He straightened up, smiled, and he had a quirky, friendly grin when he ambled over to their table. "Hey Caroline, Priya. Where's Anthony?"  
  
"Are you really turning yourself in?" Caroline asked.  
  
Topher nodded. "Yeah. Because - it's the right thing to do. And also because I know if I try to run now, all three of you will kick my ass."  
  
Caroline's smile, usually so bright and bubbly, was downright sinister. She stood up and spun Topher into an arm lock as smoothly as if she were spinning a dance partner.  
  
"Sorry, Daniel," Caroline said. "This meeting just got cut short. We need to take this guy back to the Mountain."  
  
Daniel blinked. "You know this guy? Is he –?" He made a circling motion beside one ear.  
  
"He's not crazy," Risa said. "Well, not any crazier than the rest of us. Come on."  
  
Daniel scooped up the data pads, threw down some money to cover the bill, and followed his colleagues as they frog-marched Topher out of the restaurant.  
  
"Sorry about the disturbance," he told the seating hostess as he passed. "Topher's a theater major. Does improv when he gets drunk. See you later."  
  
The seating hostess nodded dazedly, and everyone piled into Daniel's car. He headed back to the mountain, listening to the chatter behind him as the women caught up with Topher, asked how he'd been since they'd last parted ways. Topher informed them - cheerily, if also a bit nervously - that he'd been on the run and was hoping that the buzz he'd been seeing on hacker forums was true, that Rossum was on the rails, and that someone involved in the SGC would be able to keep him safe, because the people looking for him definitely wanted to kill him.  
  
Security let Topher through only on Daniel's say-so, and the women insisted on taking Topher straight to Landry's office.  
  
Landry was on the phone, made a gesture for them to wait, and so the five of them stood there, Caroline clutching Topher, Priya and Risa standing guard, Daniel hovering and feeling useless but tense, because he knew something huge was going to happen.  
  
Then the phone call ended, and Landry looked up at them.  
  
"How can I help you, and who is your guest?"  
  
"This is Topher," Caroline said, "and he was the programmer at the Los Angeles Dollhouse."  
  
Thunder descended on Landry's face, and he beckoned them inside.  
  
"Not you, Dr. Jackson," he said.  
  
Daniel raised his eyebrows.  
  
Landry sighed and said, "Fine. Jack will probably tell you anyway."  
  
So Daniel followed them women and their strange little acquaintance into Landry's office, and he learned that there were still things on earth that could surprise him.


End file.
